Second
Look provides theatrical and media make-up
artistry, as well as design and building of unusual stage
properties.
Erin Penney is an artisan of creative theatre props in unusual media
for clients in the Central New Jersey
counties of Mercer,
Middlesex, Monmouth, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Union, the northern and
central parts of Ocean, plus eastern Bucks County PA, Staten Island NY,
and occasionally beyond.
|
| Creative theatrical props
created for Stage - Television - Art and Commercial Photography - Live
Performances |
| Passage Theatre Company in Trenton hosted
the world premiere production of "Cecilia's Last Tea Party," a
fantastical and mysterious coming of age play. From left to right:
Robert Wu
(Colonel Krakatoa),
with Toba the two-headed frog; Indika Senanayake (the Dark Shadow),
with DoDo
the pelican; Nitya Vidyasagar (Cecilia), with DaDa the tiger; and Amy
Kin Waschke (Aunt Tambora). Photo
by Cie Stroud. |
| Theatrical productions call for all sorts of things to be made, from meals that look good enough to eat (but never are) to peddler's carts to giant magical fairy tale pumpkins to ordinary items in the living rooms of ordinary people... |
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Since the earliest days of show business, props and make-up people were commonly one and the same. In terms of using art to span the gap between reality and imagination, the fields are substantially related. Artist Erin Penney has made a great variety of props for various uses, from enhancing theatrical productions to selling products on QVC. |
| Marie Thomas, Scott Price, Gerard Catus,
and Krystel Lucas in "The
Summer House," a dark comic thriller given its world premiere
production by the Passage Theatre Company. Photo by Cie
Stroud. |
| Erin Penney
was Props
Designer for a new play called "The Summer House," written by
Amber Kain and directed by Jade King Carroll, that enjoyed its world
premiere on the stage of the Passage Theatre
Company's Mill Hill Theatre in Trenton. From acquiring items as
seemingly mundane as coasters and barware for an upscale Manhattan
apartment, to the details of decor within a summer home in the
Catskills, each prop element had a different aspect of the story to
tell. Among the more unusual items Erin was asked to create for this debut
material was the
packaging for a
non-existent computer-based video game that figured into the plot line,
and the cover art for a music CD recorded by one of the characters in
the story. |
| "'The
Summer House' is neatly
calculated to be both mystifying and
satisfying." -- CurtainUp.com |
|
Rates
are determined by the project.
Please call 609-510-8939 Monday through Friday between 9AM and 6PM or e-mail any time |
| A stark set (by
Jeffrey Van Velsor), moody lighting (by Charles S. Reece), and a few
streamlined props provided by designer Erin Penney informed this
surreal new play. In the photo above, Heidi Schreck (left) and
Polly Lee perform in Passage Theatre's "Instructions for Breathing" at
The Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton, NJ. Written by Caridad Svich
and directed by Daniella Topol, this drama, which teeters on the edge
of reality and dreams, made its world premiere the Playhouse.
(Photo by Cie Stroud) |
| Director Robert
Lanchester guided actress Demetria Joyce Bailey in her portrayal
of the title character in “Ethel Waters -- His Eye is on the Sparrow,"
a one-woman play with music. The script by Larry Parr, which
debuted its reinvented form at Passage Theatre
Company, Trenton, NJ, spans multiple decades and calls for
minimal staging, making those visual elements that do appear on stage
all the more critical. Props designer Erin Penney gathered various
period-appropriate items to inform the story-telling and built those
things that could not be found, like a 1930s era newspaper. |
|
Rates
are determined by the project.
Please call 609-510-8939 Monday through Friday between 9AM and 6PM or e-mail any time |
|
Erin created this Cowardly Lion costume for a theatrical production and subsequent character appearances. It is made of acrylic plush knit and features approximately 30 feet total length in garlands of human extension hair in two different colors and three textures hand-stitched together to form the tail tassel, leg trim, and chest and shoulder mane. Several seriously modified off-the-rack synthetic wigs of different textures were merged to create the unit headpiece with attached chin beard and stylish hand-sculpted and painted foam ears. The muzzle is an extensively modified pre-made hot foam latex prosthetic, resculpted inside and out for fit, comfort, and cosmetics. It is finished with custom-blended PAX paint to match the Kryolan SupraColor foundation, and is accented with fiber optic whiskers.
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| In the photo at
the top of the page,
the cast of the
world
premiere production of “Cecilia’s Last Tea Party” by The Passage
Theatre
Company, Trenton, NJ. Passage is a professional
theatre company that specializes in the development of new works by
both established and emerging playwrights. Erin painted, detailed, and
built props for designer Dani
Constance. This artistically challenging project featured a large array
of unusual props, including special animal puppet props
as well as more ordinary props, like a custom-painted tea set, all of
which combined to tell an intricate and highly imaginative story. |
"You don’t see a lot of puppets having afternoon tea. But DoDo and DaDa have a standing invitation in 'Cecilia’s Last Tea Party,' a modest but ravishing new piece of theater well served by the Passage Theater Company’s production in Trenton. DoDo is a handsome pelican with a deep voice who repeatedly announces, “I’m only stupid on land.” DaDa is a Bengal tiger with a high voice who keeps insisting that she’s just been to the jungle and eaten a rabbit. They’re both adorable, but are they really puppets, as advertised? Indika Senanayake, who plays the character known as the Dark Shadow, manipulates them by hand, externally, so they’re really just flexible stuffed animals. (Imagine picking up a teddy bear and making it wave bye-bye.) But as the story unfolds, this insistent simplicity reinforces the child’s-eye view of the world, which sometimes sits right on the edge of magic."-- New York Times |
| At Six
Flags Great Adventure, Erin maintained the Warner Brothers mascot
costumes, built specialty costume pieces (including those used for
FrightFest), and pushed her machine and hand-sewing skills to new
limits working in unusual media on a constant basis. Her sewing
skills have also been used in the support of Central New Jersey
community theatre projects, primarily in the realm of unusual
custom-made pieces. Set decorating and painting stage sets, including faux finishes and surface aging, is something Erin has enjoyed doing since she was a teen. She put some of those skills to use in the retail display arena for Macy's at Quakerbridge Mall in Lawrenceville NJ, where she helped conjure the spirit of the season with the elaborate window and other Christmas displays throughout the store. In support of professional productions at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ, Erin has worked with the overhire teams in the scene shop, props shop, and costume shop. She has created scenic art for productions at the Open Air Theatre at Washington Crossing State Park, Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor, Princeton Community Theatre and many other theatrical production companies in Central New Jersey. |
Erin designs and build props for all kinds of theatrical, performance, marketing, and other needs, and is also experienced as a scenic artist and costumer. From painting set pieces appearing in productions of the McCarter Theatre Company in Princeton, NJ, to creating the rustic woodgrain on the front door of a stage set at a local private high school, to creating full meals out of styrofoam, creating a display to sell replicas of vintage tin toys on national TV, and much more, Erin has been called on to fill the props needs of a range of creative projects in various media. |
|
Rates
are determined by consultation.
Please call 609-510-8939 Monday through Friday between 9AM and 6PM or e-mail any time |
